UMD Cuts Computer Science Class by 50%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's one way to prop up unpopular majors. You can be a math or physics major and take enough CS classes to be indistinguishable from a CS major

where are you getting this stuff from?

My kid is a dual math/CS major. A math degree + a handful of CS classes <> CS major.

DC laid out all the classes that they need to take for both degrees. There are a lot of CS classes for the CS major, and only like 3 math classes.

It is definitely "distinguishable".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also looking ahead, other than UMBC, does anyone have any CS school suggestions for a current underclassman that will likely have a 3.8 UW GPA and mid 1400 SAT.

DS #1 choice is UMD CS. He did also apply to UMBC. Peer schools applied to: VT, Penn State, NC State. Stretches applied to: UNC, GT. Planning a few privates Jan. RD. (Central MD public, 1550, 4.0 UW, APs, solid ECs). Within 6 hours of DC with that profile you can also find decent CS programs at UDel, a couple of the SUNYs, Ohio State, Purdue (similar to UMD, very hard to get into CS), Rutgers, Indiana. and many on DCUM are bullish on GM.

We went into the process in Sept. feeling pretty good about UMD. Even if direct admit was a shakier prosect, that wasn't an issue because it wasn't hard to transfer in. Now there is a possibility of not getting the direct admit and having to look at one of his other (much more expensive) options. Anyway, fingers crossed it will all work out.

There are also private options of course, but I was focused on the less expensive state schools. The larger private programs like RIT or WPI are likely higher cost even with some merit, than out of state schools.

WPI is an excellent school, and gives good merit. Worth applying to and hoping. However, you get better merit when you apply EA.

Beauty of both schools is you can major in whatever you want. No restrictions. And with merit they might not be that much more expensive than the other choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:U can still take the core CS classes ..just not graduate as a CS major. Employers care about which classes you took and do you know your stuff

Not true.

If they can get someone who is a CS major who has all the credential, there is no reason to go for second best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is limited enrollment due to fact that people in CS can make more money outside of academia? It’s a good part of why nursing programs (yes I realize nursing is not as competitive) have become so hard to get into nowadays. Not enough people to teach.

Yep. And people have to decide to do a PhD to teach when they can make lots of money without it. But maybe all the tech lay-offs will help people remember that CS is not the only route to a solid career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get it, don’t we need more CS majors, not fewer? Why would a state not be trying to graduate as many competent cs majors as possible? I get not admitting people who can’t hack it, but shouldn’t anyone with the grades and test scores who wants to try be given a chance? This seems incredibly short-sighted for the economy of the state.

They don’t have the professors. None of the schools do. There was just a big article about Pomona basically cutting its CS major because it can’t staff the department in California. Not enough people got CS degrees decades ago and I think most universities want phds which aren’t that common for CS folks. I think the immigration debacle of the last few years is also playing into this, but not sure—-from what people tell me, the CS majors from other countries aren’t that great as far as the higher skillsets.

They don't need PHD CS to teach the entry level courses. A BS/MS and industry experience would be just fine. However, if you can make $200-300K working in industry easily, why would you want to be paid $80K to teach. So until universities are willing to pay more for CS teachers, they won't find enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CS majors and classes are enot important for the high paying jobs the unwashed masses are clamoring for. It's not a big deal. programming is the easiest skill to learn for free on the Internet.

CS is not just programming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CS majors and classes are enot important for the high paying jobs the unwashed masses are clamoring for. It's not a big deal. programming is the easiest skill to learn for free on the Internet.

CS is not just programming.

Lower level programming has been off shored for many years. That's not where the money's at.

The big money in the future is going to be AI and ML.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:U can still take the core CS classes ..just not graduate as a CS major. Employers care about which classes you took and do you know your stuff

You're assuming kids can get into the classes. They will prioritize the CS majors and then if you get lucky you MIGHT get in. Good luck!

+1

Have you people ever gone to college? or registered for college classes? You seem really ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:U can still take the core CS classes ..just not graduate as a CS major. Employers care about which classes you took and do you know your stuff

You're assuming kids can get into the classes. They will prioritize the CS majors and then if you get lucky you MIGHT get in. Good luck!

+1

Have you people ever gone to college? or registered for college classes? You seem really ignorant.

+1

At almost every school where majors are "impacted" or "direct admit" (both the terms for restricted), you will not get into many (if any) CS classes if you are not a major. That's the definition of making a major "impacted/direct admit"---they make the courses inaccessible to largely anyone who is not in the major. If they had space they would allow anyone into the major.

Heck, many times CS majors have a difficult time getting into the courses (go ask anyone at CalPolySLO in CS if they got to take any electives that they actually wanted to take---do it and let me know the results or if they ever had any trouble getting into the required courses in CS so they could actually graduate in 4 years)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get it, don’t we need more CS majors, not fewer? Why would a state not be trying to graduate as many competent cs majors as possible? I get not admitting people who can’t hack it, but shouldn’t anyone with the grades and test scores who wants to try be given a chance? This seems incredibly short-sighted for the economy of the state.

They don’t have the professors. None of the schools do. There was just a big article about Pomona basically cutting its CS major because it can’t staff the department in California. Not enough people got CS degrees decades ago and I think most universities want phds which aren’t that common for CS folks. I think the immigration debacle of the last few years is also playing into this, but not sure—-from what people tell me, the CS majors from other countries aren’t that great as far as the higher skillsets.

They don't need PHD CS to teach the entry level courses. A BS/MS and industry experience would be just fine. However, if you can make $200-300K working in industry easily, why would you want to be paid $80K to teach. So until universities are willing to pay more for CS teachers, they won't find enough.

I'm chair of a department (R1 public), and most CS professors in T1 schools are hired in the six-figure range. However, you are correct that it is difficult to compete with industry jobs that pay $200-300k when we are offering $150k. Many times this leads to a failed search and possible loss of a tenure line. People with MS degrees can be hired as non-tenure track faculty, but again, it's not easy convincing someone to take the job at $85K. And the university is not going to significantly increase the department budget to pay the market rate. Also, it's not fair to students to over-enroll classes just to meet demand--there is a tipping point in which the class size is too large and the drop/withdrawal/fail rate increases significantly.

[Anonymous]

Not CS but they are looking for undergrad students https://ischool.umd.edu/academics/bachelors-programs/bachelor-of-science-in-information-science-college-park/

[Anonymous]

Thumbs up to Maryland's Information Science program. My son had an internship there when he was a CS major at UMCP, and when he went out into the job market, he earned a lot of positive feedback and second looks (and hiring opportunities) due to the info sci background.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's one way to prop up unpopular majors. You can be a math or physics major and take enough CS classes to be indistinguishable from a CS major

where are you getting this stuff from?

My kid is a dual math/CS major. A math degree + a handful of CS classes <> CS major.

DC laid out all the classes that they need to take for both degrees. There are a lot of CS classes for the CS major, and only like 3 math classes.

It is definitely "distinguishable".

The real issue is most computer science majors can’t handle the math needed for math degrees.

[Anonymous]

Probably just as well the way genAI is developing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's one way to prop up unpopular majors. You can be a math or physics major and take enough CS classes to be indistinguishable from a CS major

where are you getting this stuff from?

My kid is a dual math/CS major. A math degree + a handful of CS classes <> CS major.

DC laid out all the classes that they need to take for both degrees. There are a lot of CS classes for the CS major, and only like 3 math classes.

It is definitely "distinguishable".

The real issue is most computer science majors can’t handle the math needed for math degrees.

PP here.. I bet the reverse is true, too.. many math majors wouldn't be able to handle some of the CS classes. These majors aren't interchangeable.